Director Alexander Payne bangs modern films and believe that old films are much better

Alexander PayneThe director behind The contrasts, Electionand Oscar winning movies The descendants AND SideHe was recently honored at the Locarno Film Festival with the prestigious hour of hours. But what is most enthusiastic about? It is not the prize. He is watching old movies.

“This post -war British university course is incredible,” he said while attending the festival retrospective Great expectations. “I could not be less interested in new films. I am only interested in the old ones. The star is so far Hell is a city Since 1960. It’s a fantastic film! “

At 64, Payne still has a rebellious director, looking with affection with the golden ages of cinema and little impressed by the current landscape of modern cinema.

Reflecting on his prize, he observed: “You should say:” It’s a great honor. Thank you very much. “Even if I feel too young for a result for a lifetime, I will take it as an encouragement for the rest of my career.”

In a conversation with Variety, Payne opened on her frustrations for the way they became inflated and designed films.

“I see so many films that last three or four hours and without excellent reasons. And I sit in many modern films and I say: ‘Size, cut. I understand.

It blames most of this on the formulaic sector of screenplay guides and rigid narrative structures that emerged in the 80s, following the creatively rich wave of the 70s.

“I evolved in my thought on that kind of thing. When I left the cinema school in the 90s, I left the cinema school. I was against Syd Field and Robert McKee. I defecated on those script principles. Who is to say that he stops on page 30?

“We were leaving since the 70s, who had a good exploration and artistic films. I graduated from high school in 1979, so those are the films that taught me what an American commercial film is. And then you entered the 80s, and things started going downhill, certainly in American cinema. And my friends from the school of film Snob and that I would have accused those books of transforming everything into a formula.”

So what has Payne value in the cinema? In a nutshell, story about the show. “I am much better, more alphabets, cheaper, more efficient, more interested in telling a story and not being pretentious. I really appreciate the narrative economy.”

As for the neighbor, Payne has her eyes on several new projects. This autumn is moving to Denmark to direct a European art film entitled Somewhere out thereinterpreted Renate Reinveve.

He obtained his Greek citizenship to qualify for European state funding, jokingly: “I don’t care much about Greek citizenship, in itself, but I got it with a very practical goal in mind, which was to make films in Europe and qualify for state funding, and the films brought me this project to Danish.”

Once it wraps, it will return to a family territory with a sequel to ElectionA film that shot 25 years ago, before immersing yourself in a project that is particularly enthusiastic: a western one.

“There are about 30 or 40 bad pages,” Payne said with a smile. And yes, it’s an original story.

Payne’s thoughts are a passionate call for the art of cinema that once has given priority to the narrative on the structure and on the heart on the high concept formulas. Regardless of the fact that he is interested in the new releases today, he has not finished contributing to his voice to the evolution of cinema. It is just cutting the noise.